Fortnite Building Tips – Our Ultimate Guide For Beginners to Pros

The aspect of building sets Fortnite apart from other Battle Royales. Mastery of your Fortnite building skills is integral to becoming a proficient Fortnite player.

Mastering this skill is no small feat, however, given the steep learning curve it presents. Players of all skill levels will most likely encounter a plateau at some point during their Fortnite journey. 

We have put together some tips to help you break through that plateau, improve your building skills, and become a better Fortnite player in general. These tips are applicable to all skill levels, so no matter where you are in your Fortnite journey, they will help you.

If you’re completely new to the game, you can also check out our Fortnite for beginners guide.

Optimize your Fortnite Settings

Because building is so dependent on your input in the game, even the slightest bit of input lag can cause a massive disadvantage for you. If you are facing input lag or inconsistent framerate, chances are you are not using the optimized settings for Fortnite. 

For the best settings, check out our Fortnite Best Settings and Options guide.

Choose Optimal Build Binds

The default Fortnite building binds are, to put it bluntly, really bad. Pretty much all competitive players change their build binds. To get started with that, use the following settings:

Fortnite Build Binds

Fortnite Build Binds (No Side Buttons)

Changing your current binds to optimal ones can be the biggest improvement factor in your building. Most players haven’t properly set up their binds or are still rocking the default ones. Building in Fortnite requires a lot of different inputs, and this means you will be pressing multiple keys quickly. If your binds are not properly configured, it can impair your building ability. 

Ideally, all of your build binds should be spread across multiple fingers, allowing for easy and quick access. Furthermore, your binds should not interfere with your movement ability. Using the binds above will automatically give you a head start if you were still using the old build binds in Fortnite.

Even if you’re a seasoned player with suboptimal build binds, it’s worth it to invest the time to learn these better ones.

With that said: there is no one perfect set of binds. Everyone’s preferences are different. Most pros use their side buttons to some extent though, so your choice of mouse is also very important. You can read our Fortnite mouse guide in case you’re looking for a new pointer device.

Master the Basics

The reason building is so intimidating to players is because there is no set roadmap. When you see your favorite pros perform these unbelievable retakes and moves, you are intrigued to try them out too. We all know know how that ends though. The key is to first get consistent with the basic building moves and truly master them. 

For starters, practice ramp rushes, 90s, double ramps, cone jumps, and basic retakes. There are a plethora of videos on YouTube to get you started. We recommend YouTube since explaining these building moves textually will only get you more confused.

These mechanics will be the foundation for learning advanced techniques, so it’s worth learning them if you’re serious about Fortnite.

Retakes

Retakes are a combination of building moves you perform to get high ground from your opponent. It can be as simple as a couple of 90s or something more complex, like cone tunnels. When it comes to retakes, it’s quality over quantity. Instead of learning 5–6 retakes, focus on having 2–3 high quality retakes in your arsenal and becoming consistent when performing them.

Retakes should be kept simple; the goal is to get the high ground over your opponent without getting shot. If you have mastered the basics, you won’t even need to go and learn retakes. You can improvise and apply what you already know. The best plan forward here is to watch your favorite pros and study how they retake height in fights. 

Piece Control 

Simply put, piece control means that you occupy the areas of the grid where an opponent might want to build with your own pieces. If your build takes up more than half of the grid where you’re fighting an opponent, you’re going to have the upper hand in the fight. Ask any pro what’s the most important skill required to win fights in Fortnite, and the answer will be “piece control”. 

Surprisingly, it is not all that difficult to master. Piece control is more of a habit than a set mechanic. The habit of creating builds preemptively in places where your opponent might want to build in the (very) near future.

For example, in a boxfight, having more builds than your opponent gives you more opportunities to take shots at him. The Mongraal Classic is a great example of piece control. 

Crosshair Placement

Just like in any other shooter, crosshair placement is an integral part of Fortnite. No matter how fast your mechanics are, poor crosshair placement will make aiming tough for you.

However, compared to other shooters, crosshair placement in Fortnite is relatively simple. All you need to do is keep your crosshair in the center of your screen after every build and edit. For example, when doing a peanut butter peek, instead of editing from the bottom up, do it the other way. This will ensure that your crosshair is centered when the edit is complete. 

This method should be followed in all edits and build moves. Try to edit in a way that your crosshair ends up in the center of your screen. 

Awareness

Awareness is a very broad term in Fortnite and can be applied to various situations. However, the main idea remains simple: make sure that you have information and are aware of what’s happening around you. In fights, awareness will help you find opportunities to punish your opponent. 

Focus on your opponent, their mats, and their health. Listen to sound cues when your opponent is healing or reloading. Being aware of these little things will help you find windows of opportunity to possibly get an advantage in the fight.

Try to predict their behavior. For example, if you pressurize your opponent when they are low on health, they will likely switch their box. Use this information to make a critical play.

Awareness goes the other way around too. You need to be aware of your mats, health, the storm, and loot. These will be the factors you should consider before aggravating the enemy. Know when and when not to take fights is a very important skill in a Battle Royale.

Peeks and Timing

Peeks

Fortnite is a third-person shooter where your character is slightly to the left of your crosshair. This means you can shoot an opponent by peeking right without exposing your character. Ideally, all your peeks should be right-hand peeks. Always approach a fight or a box from the left; this automatically puts you in the position of a right-hand peek.

Similarly, when making edits to shoot, put yourself on the left. Your wall will protect you from any returning fire, while you can shoot freely. Getting into the habit of right-hand peeks will automatically make you a better fighter.

Timing

Timing is the most crucial part of any fight in Fortnite. It’s the ability to read your opponent and take shots when it matters. For example: spray your enemy when he is healing. He is not going to be holding his wall, and a quick spray will land some damage on him. 

Similarly, when an opponent is pressuring you, go for a shot as soon as he goes to reload. Alternatively, you can also pre-fire when your wall is about to go down. There are tons of examples of timing, but the idea remains the same: find windows of opportunity to shoot your opponent.

Timing depends on your ability to read and outsmart your opponent. All your peeks will be useless if the timing is not right.  

Be Creative and Avoid Being Predictable

In modern Fortnite, almost all players are pretty decent at building. To stand out, you have to be creative with your plays. Sprinkle a bit of unpredictability into your gameplay. This is especially useful for seasoned players who have gotten pretty good at building, as you will often find yourself playing on auto-pilot. The same ramp rush, 90 and 50/50 approach might work on lower-ranked players, but if you truly want to dominate the top ranks, you need to add a bit of creativity to your gameplay.

For example, when you take a boxed-up opponent’s wall, experienced players will wait for you to edit and shoot. In this case, try going for a fake, i.e. edit and reset the wall quickly. This will make them waste their shot and put their shotgun on delay, thus giving you the opportunity to take a free shot.

Of course, creativity isn’t learned in a day. You will have to put time into the game, study the pros, and watch your replays. Most important of all is to stop playing on auto-pilot. Be present in the game, think about your strategy while approaching an enemy, and try to read their plays as well. Actively thinking and being aware will help you be less predictable and a hassle for the enemy to deal with.

Practice and Warmup

All of these tips are wasted if not put into practice properly. First of all, always warm up before starting your session. Try to warm up all aspects of your mechanics, i.e., aim, building, and editing. There are a plethora of creative maps you can use to practice. You can practice everything from aim to even minute mechanics like tarping. 

If you don’t have your own warmup routine, you can follow this step-by-step routine that we have created. Feel free to tweak this to your comfort though, since practice should not feel boring at the end of the day. This routine can be used for both warming up and practice; it depends on how long you do it. 

We will break the whole routine into 4 main categories – Aim, Building and Editing, and Piece control. Moreover, to make it easier we have only chosen one map – MECHANICS TRAINING by Raider464 (8135-1582-8472). It features everything you need to practice and improve your building.

Aim

For aim training, there are a lot of options on Raider’s map. Make sure you train both flicking and tracking, as they are the most important in aiming. As a starting point, choose one AR tracking task and one shotgun flick task. 

After that, go practice peeking; there is a whole section devoted to it on the map. This will help you get into the habit of always going for right-hand peeks.

Building and Editing

For building, the best training is to free-build. Put on your favorite playlist, turn the volume up, and start cranking. Practice your retakes, the basics, and editing.

On the other hand, for editing, Raider’s map features edit courses. Go through them once or twice and you should be good to go.

Piece Control

The most crucial piece of the “getting good at building” puzzle is piece control. We will again use Raider’s map for this. There is a dedicated Piece x Peek Control Course on the map. It will take you through different scenarios where you have to build, take control of the area, and kill the bot. 

There are three different difficulties for the bot: easy, medium, and hard. Choose the one that fits your skill level.

Additional Practice

This training will focus on your core mechanics and help improve them. It will make you more consistent and faster at building. However, you must also put this training to use. A good 1v1, boxfight, or zone war is a great way to put practice into action. 

Conclusion – How To Improve Your Fortnite Building

If you follow these tips, you will see massive improvements in your building and fighting abilities. Plus, if you use the routine that we mentioned, your mechanics should improve at a rapid pace. Your building will become more fluid and your aim will be crisper. 

Do know that building is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Fortnite. There are a lot of things that come into play to get the Victory Royale. Things like rotations, positioning, early game, and midgame endgame are just some of them. Mastering building will make improving on the other things a lot easier, though, so if you put this guide to good use you’ll have a definite leg up on the competition.

Burair

Content Writer

Burair is a freelance writer for ProSettings.net